Her brother stood there, his complexion ashen. He appeared dead, only he wasn’t.

The late-autumn wind blew ferociously through their summer clothes, chilling her to the bone, only it wasn’t all due to the weather. She forced her voice past her vocal cords, which had grown as dry as the Sahara desert. “You saw it too, didn’t you?”

He nodded.

“I did, too.” Her lower lip began to tremble and her body shook.

“I-I-I…” He weaved a little and grabbed her arm for support. Her burly brother appeared as weak as a newborn baby. “Yeah.”

“It wasn’t human, was it?” she whispered. It seemed to dissolve into the craggy side of the cave about fifty yards ahead of them.

His big hand slid down her arm and regaining his strength, he nearly yanked her off of her feet, making her run behind him in the opposite direction. “Maybe not but it’s alive and it’s here. Among us.”